NC Central looking for respect as season nears

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Mack: It's been a long time coming

Durham, N.C. — It’s been a long time coming for North Carolina Central head football coach Jerry Mack as his first season at the helm of the program is set to begin with their first practice Friday.

“It really feels good,” said Mack. “Our young men are really excited today. Our coaching staff is really excited to get out there on the grass finally after so many months.”

Mack said he thinks all of the newcomers to the program will help the Eagles, and getting them to mesh with the team is a top priority.

“We’ve got some new young men that we feel like can help us as a young program,” he noted. “Getting them involved and getting them acclimated to our way and our culture, that’s going to be important today and in the next few weeks in fall camp.”

The newcomers aren’t the only players to watch with returning playmakers on both sides of the ball. Mack said wide receiver Adrian Wilkins could be a star for the team, as well as preseason All-Conference defensive back Mike Jones and defensive lineman Ty Brown.

With the current personnel, Mack wants to play an up-tempo style, put points on the board, and hopefully earn the team some respect -- something he thinks they should have.

“I talk a lot about them earning respect in the MEAC conference and them earning respect across the country," Mack said. "That’s one thing we focus on each and every day, is just trying to get that respect and get to that next level.”

From preseason conference picks, the Eagles obviously have some work to do. They were picked to finish eighth in the 11-team MEAC.

“I think it’s obvious motivation for our young men," he said. "They work just as hard as anybody else in the country, and for them to get picked eighth, I think that is a sense of motivation for those guys.”

When the team enters the locker room, they will have a reminder of exactly what the preseason polls say.

“It’s somewhere in there, among other things, but it is in there, I will tell you that,” he said.